MBTA shutters historic streetcar route for one week

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An MBTA PCC car departs the Central Avenue station on the Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Line on May 28, 2008.

Alex Mayes

BOSTON – Buses will replace PCC streetcars for eight days starting Sept. 1 along the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Line. The shutdown is due to the demolition of an old ice cream factory in Milton located directly next to the streetcar route.

The 2.6-mile Ashmont-Mattapan line is the last PCC-run route in the city and features streetcars painted in the historic orange and cream of the Boston Elevated Railway.

Last year, a consultant was hired by MBTA to study the future of the Mattapan line. The study is expected to look at whether or not MBTA should replace the PCCs with more modern streetcars or buses. Officials say finding parts for the decades old streetcars has become a challenge in recent years.